Manufacturers and service providers often employ field representatives to assist in the sales and marketing of goods and services. In order to provide these services, representatives are required to engage in direct customer contact. This contact enables the field representative to, among other things, establish a relationship with the customer, provide product education and obtain consumer feedback. On the other hand, it requires careful management of time to ensure coverage of the representative's territory.
It is important for field representatives to optimize coverage of their respective territories. Planning future sales calls based on geography facilitates travel planning thus maximizing efficiency. Likewise, establishing an itinerary that provides for the creation of a daily schedule of customer calls within a geographic region, based further on criteria such as time since last call and sales history, would provide the field representative with a tool necessary for ensuring adequate customer contact within a specified territory. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs and others.